10 U.S. Cities With the Most Immigrants From Trump’s Travel Ban Countries

Third time’s the charm? On Sept. 24, President Donald Trump announced new restrictions on visitors to the U.S. from certain countries to replace the controversial travel ban issued earlier in the year. It’s the administration’s third attempt to implement such a ban. Previous efforts have been met with legal challenges and protests.

Under the updated ban, certain individuals from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and Venezuela will be barred entry to the United States. The restrictions vary by country. While entry for anyone from North Korea or Syria is suspended, the Venezuelan ban applies only to certain government officials and their families. Exceptions to the ban may be granted to people from countries on the list who plan to study here, have family in the country, or have other connections to the U.S. Sudan, which was included in earlier bans, was removed in the latest order.

The Supreme Court ruled Dec. 4 to allow the ban to take effect despite pushback, especially from communities with large populations of immigrants from the banned countries. Here are the 10 U.S. towns with the largest population of immigrants from travel ban countries, according to the Brookings Institution. The No. 1 city on the list has more than 150,000 immigrants from banned countries.

Editor’s note: Iraqi and Sudanese immigrants have been subtracted from the Brookings Institutions original totals, as they are no longer covered by the travel ban. Data on the number of immigrants from Libya, North Korea, Chad, and Venezuela was not available.

10. San Diego

A Syrian refugee family in their home in San Diego | Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 14,300

Roughly 10,000 people from Iran and smaller numbers from Yemen, Somalia, and Syria live in San Diego. The initial ban’s impact was much greater. The California city is also home to nearly 25,000 Iraqi refugees, and local officials were among those who urged the president to revise the executive order to exempt Iraqis, particularly those who had aided U.S. military, from the ban.

9. Seattle

A Syrian refugee wipes her eyes as her husband tells their story to a group protesting President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban in Seattle on May 15, 2017. | Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 14,400

More than half of Seattle immigrants from countries included in Trump’s travel ban are from Somalia. Another 5,900 are from Iran, with fewer than 1,000 each from Yemen and Syria. Washington’s attorney general was the first to challenge the initial January ban in court, and the ban was halted by a Seattle judge a few days later.

8. Chicago

The mayor of Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, speaks with guests at a dinner for Syrian refugees. | Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for MoveOn.org

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 14,700

Chicago is home to a diverse population of immigrants from banned countries, including 6,700 from Iran, 5,700 from Syria, and 1,400 from Yemen. Overall, 40% of refugees resettled in Illinois since 2007 came from one of the seven countries on the original travel ban list, the Chicago Tribune reported. And 500 refugees scheduled to relocate to Chicago were initially affected by the ban, according to ABC News.

7. San Jose, California

A woman holds a sign during Tech Stands Up rally against President Donald Trump on March 14, 2017. | Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 14,900

San Jose has 14,900 immigrants from countries affected by the travel ban, including 14,200 from Iran and fewer than 500 each from Syria and Somalia. Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose, was among those joining a lawsuit challenging the legality of the executive order. “Targeting individuals because of their religion and national origin is illegal and undermines the values of our nation and Santa Clara County,” county counsel James Williams said in a statement.

6. Detroit

Fifteen out of every 1,000 Detroit-area residents are originally from one of the seven countries named in Trump’s January executive order, more than in any other U.S. city. Many live in the suburb of Hamtramck, Michigan, the first city in the country with a majority-Muslim city council. The city council condemned the executive order. The CEO of Ford, the largest employer in Detroit, also has spoken out against the travel ban.

5. San Francisco-Oakland

The San Francisco area is home to 16,300 immigrants from Iran. There are also 3,000 Yemenis and 900 people from Syria living in the region. Many members of the Bay Area tech community were especially concerned about the initial ban because it affected some workers in the industry, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“The internet industry is deeply concerned with the implications of President Trump’s executive order limiting immigration and movement into the United States,” said the Internet Association, a tech industry trade group whose members include Airbnb, Salesforce, and Twitter. “Internet Association member companies — along with companies in many other industries — include legal immigrant employees who are covered by these recent executive orders and will not be able to return back to their jobs and families in the U.S.”

4. Minneapolis-St. Paul

Ilhan Omar, a former refugee from Somalia, gives a speech in Minneapolis. | Stephen Maturen/AFP/Getty Images

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 21,500

Of the 21,500 immigrants in the Twin Cities from countries included in Trump’s order, 19,900 are from Somalia. Many refugees from the war-torn country have resettled in Minneapolis and Saint Paul since the 1990s, and the cities have the largest Somali population in the U.S. One former Somali refugee living in Minneapolis, Ilhan Omar, recently became the first Somali-American elected to office in the U.S.

3. Washington, D.C.

People take the U.S. Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony in Washington, D.C. | Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 26,900

Iranians make up 21,500 of the 26,900 immigrants from banned countries in the Washington, D.C., area. Trump’s original executive order affected many foreign students in D.C. Some experienced difficulty returning to the U.S. to complete their studies, while others were warned not to leave the country because there were concerns they might not be able to return if they did, NBC reported.

2. New York City

A letter from the Syrian-American Club of New York on display at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration | Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 44,000

New York City is home to one of the largest Yemeni immigrant communities in the United States, as well as to a large number of people from Iran and Syria. To protest the ban, some of New York’s cab drivers went on temporary strike on Jan. 28. On Feb. 2, Yemeni bodega owners closed their doors to protest Trump’s executive order.

1. Los Angeles

Silvia Sadjadi, who migrated from Iran, waits for a family member to arrive at Los Angeles International airport following Trump’s immigration ban. | Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Number of immigrants from banned countries: 151,500

Los Angeles has more residents from countries affected by the travel ban than any other U.S. city. The majority — 136,000 — are Iranian, but there also are close to 15,000 people from Syria. A Los Angeles judge was one of several who issued an order temporarily blocking the enforcement of the executive order.